Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission
By Lowell L. Quinto, and Nadeth B. Quinto
Lowell L. Quinto is currently (2020) working at Central Philippine Union Conference in Cebu City, Philippines. He is the coordinator for the Integrated Evangelism Lifestyle in Nurturing, Discipleship, and Reclamation program of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Central Philippines.
Nadeth Quinto is currently working at Central Philippine Union Conference in Cebu City, Philippines. She is the MIZPAH associate editor and the secretary for Communication, PARL and Hope Channel Department of Central Philippine Union Conference.
First Published: November 6, 2020
The Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission of the Central Philippine Union was established in 1997.
Territory and Statistics
Territory: Negros Oriental Province and Siquijor Province
Churches: 140
Members: 17,494
Population: 1,665,9611
Population/Member Ratio: 95:1
Origin of Adventist Work in the Territory of the Mission
The Adventist message reached Negros Oriental in 1924 through the work of the missionaries R. E. Stewart and Dr. and Mrs. Carlos Fattebert. These missionaries worked out of Cebu City, where the East Visayan Mission (now Central Visayan Conference) was located. Other foreign missionaries who came were Hugh Munin, E. G. Douglas, W. B. Riffel, E. N. Logenbeal, and M. C. Warren. They worked hard, and the first few converts in Cebu helped them.2 These early converts were the families of G. M. Arrogante3 and Mamerto G. Yorac.4
The first congregation was organized in 1925 at Mr. Tiburcio Elumir’s residence in the town of Zamboanguita, about 20 kilometers (about 12.5 miles) south of Dumaguete. Elumir’s three daughters, Candida, Juana, and Dorotea, were converted, and later on, their husbands followed.
A year later, the Siaton Seventh-day Adventist Church in the southern part of Zamboanguita was organized under the active leadership of the Tayco family.
In 1926, Dumaguete City Church was also organized, and the nucleus of the church were the families of Anecito Villamil, Eugenio Dicen, Dorotea Elumir Imperial, and the Alonsos.
Then a colporteur spread the gospel to the north, to the towns of Tanjay and Jimalalud.5 A zealot in the Advent movement and the Sabbath truth, he became more of an evangelist than a colporteur. At the house of Mr. Juan Teves at Barangay Polopantao, Jimalalud, he held a branch Sabbath School and Bible studies.6 Mr. Juan Teves and his wife, Saula, and their three children, Herberta, Maria Corazon, and Leodegario, were converted together with their spouses,7 Aurelio Fabruada, Generoso Vidal, and Nazaria Deniega.8 Soon after, the gospel reached Guihulngan, 20 kilometers (about 14.5 miles) from Jimalalud. Pedro Villegas, his wife, Asuncion, and the Yap family became the forerunners there.
The message of Adventism moved northward to Barangay Bagawines in Vallehermoso, to Canlaon, and other barangays (smallest administrative division in the Philippines) along the boundary of Oriental and Occidental Negros.
By then, Dumaguete City had become the hub of the gospel. Its influential radio stations spread across the sea toward the island of Siquijor, to the southern municipalities of Negros Oriental, to the mountain of Bais City, to Mabinay town, and to all the municipalities of the province. Like mushrooms, churches grew until there were 82 organized churches and 57 companies. There were 10 pastoral districts from Canlaon City in the north, to Basay in the south, and across the sea to the province of Siquijor.
Meanwhile, God’s work continued moving forward all over Visayas and Mindanao under the direction of the Holy Spirit. It grew so much that several missions were created.9
On January 1, 1962, Negros Mission was organized for the provinces of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and the island of Siquijor.10
On June 11, 1996, the Negros Mission Executive Committee sent a letter to the Asia Pacific Division through the Central Philippine Union Conference requesting a new mission. The excellent progress of the work in this part of the field created a great need for the organization of a new mission in Oriental Negros.11 Negros Oriental and Siquijor Provinces were far from the conference headquarters at Taculing, Bacolod City, and this distance made the administration and supervision appear cumbersome and limited in scope. Almost all the brethren felt and believed that there was a need for a new mission that could be easily contacted and reached by administrators and departmental men of the mission. The dialect spoken by the Negros Oriental people and the people of Siquijor was identical—Cebuan—thus making communication smooth and understandable. Therefore, the Asia-Pacific Division was asked to approve the creation and organization of the Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission, with an office at Barangay Tubtubon, Sibulan, Negros Oriental, Philippines, 6201.12
Organizational History of Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission
On July 31, 1996, a special executive committee of the Central Philippine Union Conference (CPUC) created a survey team to look into the proposed Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission in harmony with the counsel of the Asia-Pacific Division. The survey team was composed of A. C. Gulfan Jr., chairman; J. M. Toledanes, secretary; T. R. dele Calzada, H. V. Gayares, A. O. Neri, L. J. Estores, J. M. Wales, G. B. Buhat, and A. P. Sacay. It was further voted that the three local conference officers together with the Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission Development Committee members be invited to face the said commission on August 13, 1996, at Dumaguete City, before the CPUC Executive Committee meeting on August 20, 1996.13
On August 13, 1996, the Negros Conference Executive Committee approved and endorsed to the CPUC Executive Committee that the proposed Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission had manifested its capability and maturity as indicated in the documents they submitted. The survey team met and was convinced that the proposed new mission was ready to be recognized as a separate entity.
The CPUC Executive Committee accepted the endorsement of the CPUC Administrative Committee that the Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission proposal be submitted to the Asia-Pacific Division for recognition as a separate mission if the Negros Conference was able to reach 100 percent working capital as recommended by the Asia-Pacific Division.14
The organization of Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission was put on record during the CPUC Executive Committee Meeting on April 2-9, 1997.15 During the CPUC Executive Committee meeting on April 2, 1997, Pastor Eliseo P. Doble was appointed as the first president of Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission, and Ricardo J. Estores became the secretary-treasurer, effective on May 1, 1997.16 On April 3, 1997, the first Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission Executive Committee voted that the inauguration and thanksgiving of Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission should take place on May 1, 1997, at Tubtubon, Sibulan, Negros Oriental.17Negros Mission was able to deliver a child by the name Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission (NSM). The registered name of this mission was taken from the scope of her territory, which comprises the whole provinces of Negros Oriental and Siquijor Island.18
The Province of Negros Oriental has 19 municipalities and 6 cities,19 while Siquijor Island province has 6 municipalities.20 As of June 30, 2018, Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission has 17,494 members worshipping God in 140 churches. The Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission headquarters is located at Tubtubon, Sibulan, Negros Oriental, Philippines/P.O. Box 227 Dumaguete City 6200 Philippines.21
In 2017, Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission celebrated its 20th anniversary. This mission is determined to move forward with greater vision to meet the challenge of evangelizing unentered towns and barangays in its territory.
Executive Officers Chronology
Presidents: Eliseo P. Doble (1997–1998); Pablo G. Gunida (1999–2000); Gideon R. Napigkit (2001–2003); Joel T. Requillo (2004–2008); Eliezer G. Patricio (2009–)
Secretary-treasurers: Ricardo J. Estores, Jr. (1997–2003); Luna Casio (2003); Joel Morales (2004–2006); Ginetho Suniega (2006–2015); Ervin Mandalupa (2016–)
Sources
Fortaleza, Trinidad G., Yonilo M. Leopoldo, and Daisy I. Victoriano. Trinidad G. Fortaleza, Yonilo M. Leopoldo, and Daisy I. Victoriano to Asia-Pacific Division, June 11, 1996.
Minutes of the Central Philippine Union Conference Executive Committee. Central Philippine Union Conference archives, Cebu City, Philippines.
Minutes of the Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission Executive Committee, April 3, 1997. Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission records, Sibulan, Negros Oriental, Philippines.
Position Papers for Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Negros-Siquijor Mission archives.
Resolution made by Negros Mission Executive Committee, dated June 19, 1996, at the President’s office of Negros Mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Taculing, Bacolod City, Philippines.
Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, rev. ed., vol. 10 of the Commentary Reference Series (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1976).
Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Accessed April 2, 2010. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/entity?EntityID=13391&highlight=Negros|Oriental-Siquijor|Mission.
“Towns and Municipalities of Siquijor.” Dumaguete. https://dumaguete.com/siquijor/towns-municipalities-of-siquijor/.
Notes
-
Seventh-day Adventist Online Yearbook, “Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission,” accessed April 2, 2020, https://www.adventistyearbook.org/entity?EntityID=13391&highlight=Negros|Oriental. Statistics are as of June 30, 2018.↩
-
Eliseo P. Doble, NSM Development chairman; Baldson G. Euraoba, NSM secretary; Trinidad G. Fortaleza, Negros Conference president; Yonilo M. Leopoldo, Negros Conference executive secretary; and Daisy I. Victoriano, Negros Conference treasurer, Position Papers for Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.↩
-
Rolly and Vivian Arrogante, son and daughter-in-law of Beato Arrogante, the son of G. M. Arrogante, interviewed February 3, 2020, in front of Adventist Hospital Cebu, Cebu City, Philippines.↩
-
Pastor Lowell Teves, former youth director of Central Philippine Union Conference, now working in California, U.S.A. as a pastor consultant, interview through Messenger, February 11, 2020.↩
-
Ibid., 1.↩
-
Ibid., 1. Edwin T. Fabruada, son of Herberta Teves-Fabruada, telephone interview, February 2, 2020.↩
-
Ibid., 1.↩
-
Ibid., 3.↩
-
Ibid., 1.↩
-
Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, rev. ed., vol. 10 of the Commentary Reference Series (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1976), s.v. “Far Eastern Division.”↩
-
Trinidad G. Fortaleza, Yonilo M. Leopoldo, and Daisy I. Victoriano to Asia Pacific Division, June 11, 1996.↩
-
Resolution made by Negros Mission Executive Committee, dated June 19, 1996, at the president’s office of Negros Mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Taculing, Bacolod City, Philippines.↩
-
Central Philippine Union Conference special executive committee, 1996, action no. 96-275, 96.↩
-
Central Philippine Union Conference Executive Committee, 1996, action no. 96-288, 100.↩
-
Central Philippine Union Conference Executive Committee, April 2-9, 1997, action no. 97-69, 97-70, 20.↩
-
Central Philippine Union Conference Executive Committee, April 2, 1997, action no. 97-64, 97-65, 19.↩
-
1st Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission Executive Committee meeting, April 3, 1997, action no. 97-01, 1.↩
-
Central Philippine Union Conference Executive Committee meeting, April 29, 1997, action no. 97-69, 20.↩
-
Wikipedia, “Negros Oriental,” last modified February 19, 2020, 3:04, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negros_Oriental.↩
-
Town and Municipalities of Siquijor, Dumaguete, https://dumaguete.com/siquijor/towns-municipalities-of-siquijor/.↩
-
Seventh-day Adventist Online Yearbook, “Negros Oriental-Siquijor Mission, accessed April 2, 2010, https://www.adventistyearbook.org/entity?EntityID=13391&highlight=Negros|Oriental-Siquijor|Mission.↩